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911 Caller Arrested in Georgia Family Murders; Obama to Deliver High-Stakes Health Care Speech

Aired September 05, 2009 - 15:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN CENTER: Top of the 3:00 hour now. Here are the top stories.

Funerals are set for the seven members of a Georgia family killed in a mobile home. The suspect is the one of their own relatives. He is the son of one victim and the man whose voice you hear on a desperate 911 call.

And Sean Callebs reports now from Brunswick, Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Most of the victims in the brutal slaying in Brunswick, Georgia are going to be laid to rest today. Seven caskets were in a funeral home last night.

Family members wanted our cameras there. They wanted to show the community, remind people that they thought the killer was out there, quote, "a monster," and they wanted the person responsible arrested.

Well, there was an arrest late Friday night. Police Chief here in Glynn County, Matt Doering, said that he had significant new evidence, a couple pieces of evidence that came to light late Friday. He wouldn't say what they were and he won't talk about a possible motive.

But we know that 22-year-old Guy Heinze, Jr., the person who made a passionate 911 call after finding the victims, is the one arrested and charged with these brutal killings. He's accused of not only killing his father, but other five family members and two family friends as well.

Doering says this is a particularly vicious crime.

CHIEF MATT DOERING, GLYNN COUNTY, GA. POLICE DEPT.: The most heinous crime we've ever had in the community. I think we all know that. I think that speaks for itself. Much more than that, I don't want to comment. I don't want to say anything that would be inappropriate. There's still a lot going on now, the family is going through that grieving process. And I just want to leave it alone right there.

CALLEBS: Police Chief Doering says that Heinze Jr. wasn't a suspect until late Friday. And indeed, he had been let out of prison on $20,000 bond late Friday, only to be arrested an hour and a half later. Now, family members found out that Heinze Jr. had been charged with these crimes while they were at visitation. They say they were simply floored, simply shocked. And it's something that it's going to take a long time to recover from.

Sean Callebs, CNN, Brunswick, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: And an update in the child kidnapping case being built against Phillip Garrido. Police in Antioch, California, towed a yellow van from Garrido's backyard Friday. He and his wife were accused of holding Jaycee Dugard in tents and shades behind their house for 18 years. Police say the van is being seized as potential evidence.

Meantime, authorities in Nevada are checking unsolved kidnappings to see if there is a connection to Garrido.

A hundred thousand dollars, that's the cash reward for information that leads to an arson arrest in southern California. The station fire north of Los Angeles has burned more than 70 homes. Two firefighters have died battling the blaze, prompting police to launch a homicide investigation. The fire is just about 50 percent contained.

Jacqui Jeras is keeping track of the weather in the fire zone in southern California.

So, the conditions right now possibly to hurt or help the fire- fighting effort.

JACQUI JERAS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, they are not helping it, really. But it could be worse, I guess. You know, our winds are relatively calm still again today. They could get a little gusty into the passes and below there.

The temperatures are a little bit cooler today. We are only going to get in the 90s. So, we're no longer looking at those triple digits. So, that's a little bit of good news.

The humidity is moderate. It's below critical levels but it certainly could be higher. We'd like to get some of this moisture in here from Arizona over to fire areas. I don't think we're going to get that as we head into the weekend, but we are going to get on some shore flow which means that the winds are going to come in from the Pacific into the area, and that's going to bring in the marine layer, that's going to bring in a whole lot more moisture and will have more significant impacts then into the fire areas.

Now, we've got a lot of wet weather going on across parts of the southeast. It's a holiday weekend. Everybody wants to hit the beach. And unfortunately, take a look at what's been going on here across south Florida. Some very, very heavy rainfall into the area across Miami, along the Alligator Alley, spotty thunderstorms along the Atlantic coast, you know? Unfortunately, in the last couple of weekends, haven't been so great because we've had rip currents threat from Danny, then from Bill, and now, we've got rain. So, unfortunately, that's keeping a lot of people inside.

Temperature wise, it's going to be really good. Highs in the 90s. So, you will be dodging some of the storms, but it's not going to be constant all day long.

Water temperatures, too, by the way, really comfortable. Padre Island, 85 degrees. You've got like 90-degree water temperatures over there in Key West. So, certainly, on the warm side for getting in the water, if that's what you want to do for today.

WHITFIELD: It's not too warm for me. I like it.

JERAS: I know you love the warm water. I'm a little bit more of the bath water girl, cooler water girl, right?

My map doesn't seem to want to switch. So let's just go right ahead and talk about the travel delays. If you are trying to travel anywhere for today, we've got delays in Phoenix because of the thunderstorms and rain. Forty-five-minute delays in San Francisco, that's because by the low clouds there this morning.

And tomorrow's forecast, it's a whole lot like today, with the exemption to that, the cold front in the northwest being such a little more, it brings in the rain for you in Seattle and Portland. So, you might want to have an indoor party, and outdoor barbecue, looking great in the northeast though. That's the best location in the nation really, lots of sunshine. Temperatures comfortable.

How about 75 degrees in New York City?

WHITFIELD: Lovely.

JERAS: You can't ask better than that.

WHITFIELD: That is beautiful. Nice.

All right. Thanks so much. Mixed bag, a little something for everybody out there.

JERAS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: All right, Jacqui. Appreciate that.

All right. Oklahoma now. Five people were killed this morning when a small plane crashed. The FAA says the plane took off from Tulsa and was headed to Dallas when it clipped the wire and then crashed. All the victims, two adults and three children, were from Tulsa. It was foggy in the area at the time of the crash.

President Obama going before Congress for a high stakes speech on health care reform. See it live on CNN next Wednesday.

Senior White House correspondent Ed Henry talked with a top advisor to the president about the message and strategy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED HENRY, CNN SR. WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: So, why the speech? Did it feel like the debate was slipping away from you?

DAVID AXELROD, SR. WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: No, I think we've gone through months and months of debate and discussion. All the ideas are on the table now. It's a new season. It's a new phase of this debate. And it seems appropriate as we enter the final weeks for the president to address the nation and talk about how we're going to provide stability and security to people who have health insurance and help those who can't afford insurance get the coverage they need.

HENRY: Can you clear up, where's the public option? Is it still on the table or is it off?

AXELROD: The president embraced the public option because he believes that we need to have competition and choice in the insurance system, in this pool that will be created for uninsured workers and small businesses that can't afford insurance to buy it. And he believes that would be a boom for consumers, help them get the best deal, keep the insurance companies honest. He still believes that competition and choice is important.

HENRY: But, does that mean the public option is still alive?

AXELROD: I'm not going to deal with the details of the president's speech, otherwise, there'd be no point in giving it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Another administration official says the president is considering laying out a more specific vision of health care reform.

So, if you'd would like to learn more about the health care debate, go to CNN.com/healthcare. Check out the key players, the different plans and, of course, the controversial sticking points. You can even find the town hall meetings closest to you.

So, for every person without health insurance, there are two who don't have dental. It's almost 100 million people without dental coverage. Those lucky enough to live in Atlanta, you can go to a free clinic.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD (voice-over): Eight thousand patients a year walk through the doors of the Ben Massell Dental Clinic in Atlanta. Many of them are working poor and all have no insurance. It's been a vital lifeline for the insurance poor for 98 years. These days, with a nation in recession and so many businesses cutting back, here business is up, 40 percent.

DR. DAVID ZELBY, CLINIC CHIEF OF STAFF: There's a reason to the story, all of a sudden, is the need for services to those who can't afford services or lost insurance, has grown exponentially in the last couple years.

WHITFIELD: This clinic has invested nearly $6 million donated dollars to keep up, building a brand-new eco-friendly facility with the latest technology. As for the 125 dentists on board, they are volunteers.

GARY MILLER, CLINIC CEO: On any given day, two to three dentists in the morning and two to three dentists in the afternoon who may have 56 to 60 clients that you're going to see in a day.

DR. DAVID ZELBY, CLINIC CHIEF OF STAFF: These are people who don't have insurance. These are people -- a lot of the people are working people. They have worked all their lives, but never been able to save the money necessary for their senior years to spend the money on teeth.

WHITFIELD: Patients like this 70-year-old Thelma Graves.

THELMA GRAVES, UNINSURED: Dental care is not a priority when you are trying to pay your mortgage. If it wasn't for Ben Massell Dental Clinic, I don't know what I would do.

WHITFIELD: These dentists are feeling pressure.

ZELBY: We had to close down accepting new patients because the lines have gotten so long and we didn't have the volunteers necessary to incorporate the people into the clinic in a timely fashion.

WHITFIELD: Patients and dentists believe lawmakers debating health care reform should consider this.

GRAVES: I like to see some of that money that we're bailing out the car companies go into an environment where people like myself, and like you or anyone who needs adequate dental care will have access to it.

ZELBY: But there's a way that lawmakers get a tax credit, something for the time that they've rendered here. Then it would give more of an incentive to come here. Potentially, we can create a lot more volunteerism and service a lot more individuals.

WHITFIELD: In the meantime, even if it is a struggle, the Ben Massell Clinic will continue to help bridge the gap between patients and need and dentists willing to give -- one smile at a time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, other health matters. Swine flu. The number of confirmed cases is growing and so are your questions and concerns. Well, we're ready to answer them. Send us your H1N1 questions now through Facebook or blog or even e-mail, Weekends@CNN.com. A flu expert will answer those questions for you live in the next hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.

All right. The jobless rate has hit a 26-year high. We'll break down the numbers for you and tell you about a historic shift. The American workplace just doesn't look like it used to. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Stimulus programs will continue worldwide. That's the pledge today from the group of 20 rich and developing countries known as the G-20. The group gathered today in London to deal with the worst global financial crisis since World War II. There was also an agreement to impose for tighter control over bankers pay. But there had to be a compromise after Britain and the U.S. decided a cap on banker bonuses was not going to work.

Customers of several more banks are getting the bad news. Their banks have gone belly up. Late yesterday, federal regulators shut down five more regional banks, two in Illinois; the others in Iowa, Arizona and Missouri. Customers are protected. The FDIC insures up to $250,000. And that makes now 89 bank failures for this year alone.

And on this Labor Day weekend, many Americans are, of course, looking for work. The Labor Department says the unemployment rate in August rose to 9.7 percent. Two hundred sixteen people lost their jobs last month since the recession began; and 7.4 million Americans have lost their jobs. The unemployment rate for men is now 10.1 percent, for women, 7.6 percent. For the first time, women actually make up nearly 50 percent of the work force.

I talked about this historic shift with the CEO of a job placement company.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Women who are dominating the work force, why?

APRIL NAGEL, CEO, FIRST PRO INC.: Well, a lot of it is because something we're terming the man's session. Eighty-two percent of the jobs lost have been men. But, I think the industries that have been hardest hit are traditionally male-dominated, the construction industry, the manufacturing industry.

We're finding women are much more adaptive and flexible about the position they're taking when they had been laid off and they're out there looking. They are more adaptive. They're willing to take an interim position.

I talked to a woman the other day, a cashier in Target, had had a high level executive administration job for 15 years, was laid off, had two kids in college, took the position as a cash year in the interim. You're not finding it with men. We are finding men have a large difficulty doing that. It requires such a mind shift change in this economy that we're just finding men, they have a large difficulty doing.

WHITFIELD: So, that really is though, by chance, it's not necessarily by design that women are now making up 50 percent of the workforce and likely the numbers will go higher.

NAGEL: Well, and it will go higher probably in the next month or two. We may well get over 50 percent. But, I think, over the last 50 years, yes, there has been a shift -- more women in the workplace, more college-educated women. But, as a whole, it's really peaked in the last year because of the economy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Despite the gains, weekly earnings for women are still, on average, about 80 percent that of men. We've got to fix that.

News across America, the search for a 4-year-old boy in western Pennsylvania is over. Police say Wyatt Smitsky's body was in the neighbor's septic tank. The boy disappeared from his yard last night. Police say they have a known suspect. And they might file charges today. A news conference is scheduled later on this afternoon.

An emotional homecoming for soldiers in Fort Rucker, Alabama...

(VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: One hundred and twenty-eight members of an engineering battalion reunited with their families this week after 15 months in Iraq. The soldiers were in charge of major infrastructure projects, rebuilding schools and bridges in the Baghdad area. Welcome home.

And a warning for swimmers heading to Cape Cod, Massachusetts, this Labor Day weekend: Beware of sharks -- not just any sharks, though, the big kahuna, great white. As many as five sharks were actually spotted this week off the southern cape. And at least one of them -- one of them -- was a great white, they say. Officials are beefing up patrols on the beach and urging boaters to report any sightings.

And if you don't have a retirement plan, how will you survive once you leave your job? President Obama says he is concerned about that and he's out with a plan to help more Americans save for their golden years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: The top stories right now.

The Georgia man who called 911 to report his family had been killed is now charged with their killings. Guy Heinze, Jr. faces eight counts of first-degree murder. In his call to 911, Heinze told the dispatcher he got home from a night out to find his entire family dead in his father's mobile home. Well, police say two new pieces of information led to them to the arrest of him. But they are not saying what the information is.

Authorities in California, meantime, are hoping a $100,000 reward will lead them to the arsonist who set the big fire in Los Angeles. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is offering the reward. And right now, the blaze is 49 percent contained. The flames had burned more than 154,000 acres. It's been called the station fire.

President Obama, meantime, is pushing a plan to help more Americans save for retirement. He outlined it in his weekly radio and Internet address. And among other things, it would make it easier for small businesses to set up 401(k) savings plans that automatically enroll all employees unless they opt out. The plan also will let workers put money from unused vacations time into their retirement accounts and let tax refund checks be sent as savings bonds.

This year's Atlantic hurricane season has been a bust so far. So, what is the explanation? We'll ask meteorologist Jacqui Jeras.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Heavy rain made it really hard to get around in some parts of south Florida. Floods closed roads near Fort Lauderdale. Some people tried to drive through the water. But that's always pretty risky. Some drivers actually got stuck and had to be pulled out after they waited for a tow truck or something.

All right. So, we are half way through this year's Atlantic hurricane season. And so far, it's been pretty mild. It is just luck, however, or is there a scientific explanation?

CNN meteorologist Jacqui Jeras joins us from the weather center. Do you believe in luck as it pertains to weather?

JERAS: Not so much.

WHITFIELD: I don't think so.

(LAUGHTER)

JERAS: Well, sometimes, you know, when you have 30 percent chance of rain or something like that. But, actually, Fred, we are talking about El Nino here. You know, you've heard the name before. You're going to be hearing a lot more about El Nino in the coming months. It's good news, usually for the hurricane season as it tends to bring stronger winds in the Atlantic that tend to weaken hurricanes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JERAS (voice-over): Katrina, Rita, Ike -- monster storms that had made dealing with major hurricanes a regular occurrence for residents on the gulf coast. But this year seems oddly quiet. Our weather patterns are changing and it could mean good news for the storm wary.

El Nino, it's the warming of waters in the equatorial Pacific. When this happens, it changes the regular flow of the jet stream, bringing those strong winds through the southern U.S. and Atlantic. Jet stream winds can blow off the top of tropical systems and prevent them from developing or getting stronger.

Here is what El Nino has done to tropical seasons in the past. In 1982 to '83, a strong El Nino episode brought the quietest hurricane season in 50 years. But one of those storms was Alicia, a brutal hurricane that killed 21 in Texas. 1997 to '98, only seven named storms for the entire season, well below the average of 11.

But it's not all good news. That season, the jet stream helped support the deadliest tornado outbreak in Florida's history -- one of them ripping roofs off of hundreds of homes and killing 25 people in Osceola County.

That '97 to '98 season was also devastating for the southwestern United States. The jet stream brought storm after storm into California, torrential rains, mudslides, washed out roads and destructive waves all pounded the state. It was one of the costliest winters on record for California, estimating $550 million in damages for February of '98 alone.

El Nino is typical bad news for the eastern Pacific hurricane season, too, generating more frequent and stronger storms. In 2006, an El Nino year, there were 18 named storms in the eastern Pacific, including hurricane John that killed five people in Baja California, Mexico.

There's no telling what El Nino will do to the U.S. this time around. The climatologists are predicting it could strengthen and last through the winter of 2010.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JERAS: And right now, we are in what meteorologists called a moderate El Nino condition. Two more months of above normal temperatures in the Pacific would mean a full-blown El Nino episode which could bring similar impact. And as for, you know, the slow start to the hurricane season, well, right now, we're just starting to enter that peek. And, you know, it doesn't really matter how many storms get a name, what matters is if whether when it hits the U.S. and whether or not we are prepared for it, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Oh, that is right. You know, and while we're talking about El Nino, what about its impact, if any, on, say, California as these firefighters continue to battle the blaze. The weather has certainly not been the greatest, bringing the greatest of conditions for them.

JERAS: Right.

WHITFIELD: Might this make a difference?

JERAS: Well, we don't think that El Nino is having an impact on the fires at this time, but the big concern is what's going to happen this the winter, because California tends to get those heavy rain. And when you're talking like 250 square miles of burn area, mountain side and no vegetation, just soak any of that up...

WHITFIELD: Now, we're talking mudslides.

JERAS: ... going to run down and, yes, flood the valleys and cause some mudslides.

WHITFIELD: A real mess.

JERAS: We'll be watching for that potential. WHITFIELD: All right. Well, we hope the best for California. I think they've been hit pretty hard the last couple years, not just this season, but the last couple years. They've gotten some nasty hits.

JERAS: Oh, yes.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much, Jacqui.

Take a look at this. Have you seen this picture? It's a guard caught sleeping on the job. He's supposed to be standing watch over potential target for terrorists. Well, now, he's paying the price for this snooze.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Oh, the whistle was blown and the ax fell. Two guards who were hired to protection New York's George Washington Bridge had been fired. They were sleeping on the job.

CNN's Deb Feyerick spoke to the guy who caught them napping.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Joey Lepore loves riding his bike from New Jersey over the George Washington Bridge into New York's Central Park.

(on camera): You take this path every day?

JOEY LEPORE, CAUGHT GUARDS SLEEPING IN GEORGE WASHINGTON BRIDGE: Well, pretty much every day.

FEYERICK (voice-over): It was on one of those rides across the bridge Lepore (ph) looked over the security booth and saw something that alarmed him.

LEPORE: I saw a guy sleeping. And I thought, this is crazy that the guy is sleeping on duty.

FEYERICK: And he says it happened not once but three times.

LEPORE: I got totally outraged. I said, you know what, I'm taking a picture of this.

FEYERICK: Which he did walking straight up to the security booth.

LEPORE: Imagine if I was a terrorist. Imagine if I had a gun in my hand. I could have opened up this door and blew his head right off. That's how close I was.

FEYERICK: Months before going public, Lepore (ph) says he reached out to the security guard.

LEPORE: I said, you know, I don't want to be a jerk and report this, but you got to promise me that you're not going to be sleeping while you're supposed to be guarding a bridge. And he said. No, no, no. It won't ever happen again. Don't worry.

FEYERICK: But when it did with another guard, Lepore (ph) felt there was a bigger problem.

LEPORE: If this guy worked in a deli, and he was sleeping behind a counter, I wouldn't care. But when you're protecting us and it's your job to have an eye out for anything that's potentially hazardous for us, our safety, then I take that very seriously.

FEYERICK: The Port Authority which runs the bridges says both guards have been fired for sleeping on the job. In a statement to CNN, the agency says it welcomes public vigilance and that, "The Port Authority takes the safety of its passengers and facilities very seriously and has spent more than $4 billion on security since 9/11."

Although he feels badly about the firings, Lepore still feels he did the right thing especially because a cousin and friend died on 9/11.

LEPORE: If I can do one thing to help one person stay alive, then I'll be very, very fulfilled today.

FEYERICK (on camera): Neither the port authority nor the contractor that hired the security guards would not release the names of the two men in the photos, so we were unable to reach them directly. The agency did confirm that sleeping on the job was the reason for termination.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And next week marks the eight anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. If it happens again, will we be prepared? How safe are the roadways, bridges and ports, especially when preventing a potential attack? We'll take an in depth look at the state of U.S. security. That's a week from today during the 4:00 p.m. Eastern hour, here in the NEWSROOM. So, if you have questions, send them to CNN.com or blog/Fredricka and also at Weekends@CNN.com.

All right, Pakistani sources say that forces have killed more than 50 suspected militants in the northwest tribal regions. Pakistan's Frontier Corps claims paramilitary forces killed 37 near the Khyber Pass. The others were killed in a Pakistani air strike.

And the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan inspected the sight of a deadly NATO strike. General Stanley McChrystal also visited a hospital in (INAUDIBLE) province where civilians are being treated.

He said it's clear some were harmed in the bombing. At least 90 were killed when a NATO fighter jet bombed a pair of hijacked fuel trucks. And it's still unclear how many of the dead were Taliban militants and how many were civilians.

In China, communist party chief has been fired after protests and police clashes in his city turned deadly. Protesters were demanding better police protection and a crackdown on the regions ethnic Uighurs. The Uighurs are a Muslim minority blamed for a string of syringe stabbings in the area. This latest unrest left five dead and 14 injured.

Now, for the "Hero" of the week, it's been 10 years since a small southeast Asian island of Timor erupted in a fight for independence. In its wake, more than a quarter of a million people were displaced, many of them children. One commercial pilot was so moved by the disturbing images that he saw on CNN, that he changed his entire life to help them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNOUNCER: This is "CNN Heroes."

(BEGIN GRAPHIC)

In 1999, violent clashes broke out over East Timorese independence. More than 250,000 people were displace during the conflict.

(END GRAPHIC)

BUDI SOEHARDI, CNN HERO: There was riots, buildings being burned, people just trying to save their life.

The children are supposed to have proper upbringing, and what they were having there was far from being normal. This is so devastating to me and my family. That's why we committed to go and to help.

My name is Budi Soehardi. I'm a pilot for Singapore Airlines. I founded an orphanage to help the children in West Timor.

When we started, we only had four children. And we found out that even more needed help badly, so, we decided to build our own orphanage building.

Right from the beginning, we give them vaccination, clothing, food. But we cannot give them anything more valuable than a proper education.

(singing): A, B, C, D, E, F, G...

CHILDREN (singing): A, B, C, D, E, F, G...

(BEGIN GRAPHIC)

Since 2002, Budi's pilot salary has provided for 47 orphans in West Timor.

According to Budi, his contract with Singapore Airlines will not be extended after November, due to economic conditions.

(END GRAPHIC)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Life was tough before. When my parents died, I couldn't go to school. For me, Budi is an angel. And I'm now in medical school.

SOEHARDI: Very, very good, right?

We also have (INAUDIBLE), are able to provide and to teach them, just be who you are, help others, and do it from your heart.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Well, to find out more about Budi's extraordinary work and learn about other heroes this year, go to CNN.com/Heroes, right now. In a few weeks, we'll announcing the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2009.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, 40 minutes after the hour or 20 minutes before, whichever way you want to look at it. Here are the top stories right now in the CNN NEWSROOM.

The top U.S. commander in Afghanistan says it's clear some civilians were hurt in yesterday's NATO attack on high jacked fuel tankers. At least 90 were killed. It's not clear how many were civilians and how many were Taliban fighters, but the attack has provoked outrage. NATO investigators began an official probe today.

And 65 victims are now confirmed dead three days after an earthquake rocked the Indonesian island of Java. They are searching through the rubble, so the death toll just might rise. Thirty-two people are still missing.

And funerals were set for this hour for most of the victims of last week's mobile home massacre near Brunswick, Georgia. Eight people were killed, most of them family members. Authorities have arrested 22-year-old Guy Heinze, Jr., he's the son of one of the victims and he the person who actually made the 911 call to police.

A Mississippi high school football player is being called a hero for wrestling a loaded gun away from a girl on a school bus. Now, Kaleb Euliss is telling his story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KALEB EULLIS, SCHOOL BUS HERO: So, I just opened the emergency door just tell them to run out as I tried to grab her attention, you know, just keep her from pointing at anyone else on the bus. I just tried to grab her attention and get the focus on myself. I guess she just glanced out the bus or just blinked for a second and I just lunged. And just got the gun away from her and just ran out the backdoor and just disarmed it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Security videos shows the 14-year-old girl actually pulling out a semiautomatic handgun, she appears threatens other students. There were almost two dozen other students on the bus. The girl is in juvenile custody facing kidnapping, attempted assault and firearms charges.

After 10 years of fighting, sex education is back in North Carolina schools. An old law just didn't have the effect lawmakers actually expected. So here now is CNN's Carol Costello.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For more than 10 years it was the law in North Carolina. State House Bill 834 required teachers to tell teenagers they were expected to abstain from sexual activity outside of marriage.

But the law didn't have the lasting effect on teenagers officials had hoped.

COSTELLO (on camera): What has happened to the teenage population in North Carolina?

COLLEEN BRIDGER, GASTON COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT: They have gotten pregnant more often. Imagine that? Our STD rates are going up. Our pregnancy rates are going up.

COSTELLO (voice-over): According to North Carolina's health department, from 2003 to 2007, the teen pregnant rate rose more than 12 percent. North Carolina now has the ninth highest teen pregnancy rate in the nation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It doesn't give them all of the information they might need.

COSTELLO: These young men and women lobbied lawmakers to allow high school teachers to tell students about contraception. They decided to do that because of their experience in abstinence only classes in high school.

GABRIELLA MAGALLANES, STUDENT: I remember sitting in my class among my peers and hearing my teachers say, abstinence only, wait to have sex until you get married, condoms won't work. If you have sex, you'll get an STD and die.

COSTELLO (on camera): Wait, she said you're going to get and STD and die if you have sex?

MAGALLANES: Ultimately. And when kids hear that, they shut their ears off. They just stop listening.

COSTELLO (voice-over): Jere Royall, an advocate of abstinence-only education, says the key is to get the truth out. He says if taught properly, abstinence-only is the best sex education.

HERE ROYALL, NORTH CAROLINA FAMILY POLICY COUNCIL: They need to understand that sexuality is an important part of life, but what they also need to understand is what the possible consequences are if they engage in sexual activity outside of marriage.

COSTELLO: In the end, lawmakers listened to both sides. They amended the original law to allow teachers to first instruct students about abstinence, and then about what they can do if they decide to have sex.

It's a challenge health officials are willing to take on.

BRIDGER: The starting point is getting people transitioning from saying we expect you not to have sex, but if you do, here are some things you can do to protect yourself. Here are some things you can do to reduce your risks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: The University of North Carolina did a study on how many parents want their kids to learn about condoms and birth control and STDs, 91 percent said yeah, teach kids about those things. So, that leaves eight percent of parents who don't want their kids to learn about such things in school. That's why students will be allowed to opt out of sex-ed, if they wish.

Putting power in your stride. Canadian researchers are using knee power to generate electricity. It's today's "Technofile."

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WHITFIELD: OK, strange things happening around Atlanta, today. Monsters, wizards, warriors, yeah, just like that, you name it, walking down the street, not far from us right here at the CNN Center. Well, this parade right here is part of Dragon*Con. Have you heard of it? It's a huge annual science fiction and fantasy convention materializing for us right now. Dragon*Con media relations director, Dan Carroll.

Just kind of that Star Trek effect, you know, materializing? There you go.

DAN CARROLL, DRAGON*CON: We call it transporting.

WHITFIELD: Transporting, thank you. OK, well, folks from all over turned out for this. When I drove in this morning, I saw sightings of Luke Skywalker, I saw Darth Vader, I saw all kinds of costume wearing. Is that what it's about, wearing your costume or is there something else?

CARROLL: Fredricka, that's a big part of it, because what Dragon*Con is really about, is fun.

WHITFIELD: And it's not even Halloween.

CARROLL: It is Dragon*Con, which is more fun than Halloween, because it lasts four days. Dragon*Con is the largest convention of science fiction fantasy, comics, gaming, music, arts. We cover the gambit. We provide a wider variety than any other convention in the country. This year, we are expecting 30,000 people to be attending.

WHITFIELD: Wow, that's huge. So this really -- so people use this as an excuse to kind of role play. Be what they love to watch, whether it be on the silver screen for the TV screen.

CARROLL: Well, of all the conventions in the country, Dragon*Con is very famous for its, what we call, cos play, or costume play. And this goes a little more than just putting on a costume and dressing up. This is building your own costume, taking on a persona, getting out there with your friends, dressing up. You see here, we got the Blues Brothers behind me. We've got folks from various wars of the future, wars of the past.

WHITFIELD: But that's not really sci-fi. Oh, yes, Ghost Busters. Yes, it is.

CARROLL: Well, we're not just sci-fi. We cover fantasy, we cover -- and this year we have huge impact from a new trend out there called alternative history. And alternative history is what if we had the technology we have today in the 1880s, in the 1860s. What would it look like? I have seen a little R2D2 that actually moved around with the front like an old railroad with the cow catcher in the front.

WHITFIELD: Well, I'm feeling a little left out because I'm not in costume, nor are you. Or are you?

CARROLL: This is my costume, actually. I'm dressed as the P.R. guy.

WHITFIELD: But, if you wanted to be in costume for Dragon*Con, what would it have been?

CARROLL: Well, there's actually a couple costumes I'm looking at. One is I'm going to be joining my wife in the alternative history, she enjoys so much, and I will probably be dressing up as an archaeologist with goggles and a lot of brass before the weekend is over, and I'm also a big fan actually of the television show "Battlestar Galactica," "Stargate."

WHITFIELD: And that's huge.

CARROLL: Those are very huge.

WHITFIELD: Yeah, there's a huge following for that. Are you finding that especially in the tough economic times that people are kind of looking for escapism, they're really using this, even though it's been around for a while, using this as kind of an excuse to say, you know what, I just want to have fun. I don't think to think about money, the finances, tough times, but I'm just going to go all out for this and be blue like she was.

CARROLL: Well, I think so. I will tell you that we know the times are tough and times are hard, but we had, up until the point where I heard about this last, we had been on track for the same number attendees as last year. We did not see any significant decrease. That's impressive considering everything else. We're taking up four whole hotels here in metro Atlanta. We are...

WHITFIELD: And that's why we see a lot of people outside, because they are transporting themselves from one hotel to the next during this whole convention.

CARROLL: That's correct. And some of them are using worm holes.

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

CARROLL: So, that's an alternate way to transport.

WHITFIELD: All right, excellent. Dan Carroll, thanks so much, Dragon*Con.

CARROLL: Thank you, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: I guess if you didn't check it out this year, you don't know anything about Dragon*Con in Atlanta, it's usually in Atlanta, right?

CARROLL: It is always in Atlanta. We are Atlanta-born, Atlanta-raised, and we will stay here.

WHITFIELD: There you go. Then something to plan for next year. Check out Dragon*Con, right?

CARROLL: Right.

WHITFIELD: All right. Dan, thanks so much. Nice to meet you.

CARROLL: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, we all know that getting exercise is a great way to get more energy. Well, now some Canadian researchers are actually taking that concept to a whole new level. Gary Tuchman explains in today's "Technofile."

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): With every step you take, the body creates energy that usually goes to waste -- until now.

MAX DONELAN, BIONIC POWER: This particular device is designed to capture energy while you're walking.

TUCHMAN: It's called the bionic energy harvester. It might look like an athletic knee brace. But a closer inspection reveals layers and a generator that harness power from the natural motion of walking.

DONELAN: Muscles are the power house of the body. So they're producing the mechanical energy initially. And through the device, that's turned into electrical power like a battery charger, basically.

TUCHMAN: Simply strap on the two-pound brace and get moving. With each step, the device transfers the energy from hop in your step to batteries. Pop those in a digital camera or cell phone, and the more you walk, the more you can talk.

DONELAN: For walking for only one minute, you can produce about 20 minutes of talk time on a typical cell phone. So, it's a lot of power.

TUCHMAN: It's still in the development stage. But researchers are hoping to have it available soon. In a world where staying connected is key, pop in the power cord to give you a lot more space to roam.

DONELAN: You become the juice for your devices. And for many people, what that also means is freedom.

TUCHMAN: Gary Tuchman, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: A massive fire and a massive reward for information that leads to the person who actually started it.

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